Dear Lord, what a wild and woolly month.
After we do what’s needed and take 3 of 4 at Boston in the first week, the wheels fall off completely and we lose 9 from our next 10 to put us on the verge of dropping out of contention.
In response, with no sign of a turnaround in his wretched form (hitting just 114 for the month), I am forced to do the unthinkable and take Honus out of the everyday lineup. He has 4.5 WAR from last season and this and has simply fallen off the cliff. We need to think beyond him and we need to do it now.
I’m not trying to hang what is happening here on Dutchie alone. Herzog’s putrid season continues, as does our pitching inconsistency, and we cannot get a shortstop to hit to save our lives.
I almost feel sad to report that it seems to do the trick as we finish off the month strongly with 12 wins from our next 14 to end up with a 16-11 record for the month. This, combined with a late wobble by the Braves, means this race is not done quite yet.
So much of the heavy lifting to this has been done by Lajoie, Harvey, Bresnahan and Campbell, that if we can just get the others to lift I feel we can give this a decent shake. The first fortnight of September will be crucial, as it leads into a 3-game series with the Braves that may prove pivotal if we can creep closer in the time preceding. We'll have to do the early part of this without Duke, who has picked up a niggle that will keep him out of action for the better part of a week.
Awards, news, leaders. Back at the end of the regular season with some updates in-between should the need present itself.
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